An Ethological Model for Implementation in Mobile Robots

Abstract

This article describes a neuroethological model of learning and motivation that accounts for many of the behavioral phenomena observed in animals. Unusual predictions from the model have been tested and shown to be demonstrable in laboratory Siamese fighting fish. In addition, the model is sufficiently mathematically well defined to be implementable in a robot or in computer simulation. A trial implementation in a mobile robot was carried out as part of this work. This article describes a simplified version of the model that was programmed into the robot, a thought experiment designed to show the main features of the model, and the preliminary robot experiments that were carried out. Using robots for ethological models of animal behavior is interesting for both robotics and ethological research: The study of robot autonomy can be enhanced through an understanding of complex and realistic models of animal autonomy, and ethological research should benefit from a supply of guaranteed "naive" agents on which rigorous testing of such models is tractable.